Anniversaries
by HecateA
Summary: In which Malcolm feels like the worst gift giver on the planet.


**This would have been out last night but I was getting increasingly severe pressure to go to bed, and I figured that you guys deserved a well-edited piece. Anyways, this comes to you because a ton of people got really into my last Mitchell/Malcolm oneshot and so POOF.**

**Also Stack of Stories suggested a plot bunny in her/his review on my other story- so I'd just like everyone to know that I'm not smart enough to come up with the whole M&M thing (read story for details). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the following characters. Stack of Stories produced the plot bunny from which this story grew**

**Dedication: People of Tumblr, anonymous or not, who told me to write more MitchMal**

* * *

**Anniversaries**

* * *

"Malcolm, we're gonna be late if we don't leave now," Annabeth said.

Malcolm half-heartedly turned away from the display.

"What are you even looking at?" She asked as they walked out of the boutique.

"I don't shop often. I figured that I should probably get Mitchell an anniversary present while I was out."

Annabeth smiled. "That's right, that's next month isn't it?"

"Yeah," Malcolm said. December 16th at 3:14 AM had been their first kiss, to be precise (which Malcolm was). They'd been at one of those parties on the Argo II now- the boat had a very active life even now that it had retired from being a warship.

"Do you have any idea what to get him?" Annabeth asked.

"Nope," Malcolm said. "No idea whatsoever."

"We could stop at…"

"No, you're right. We'll be late for SciCon if we don't get a move on, and I wouldn't want us to miss that panel you wanted to see."

* * *

"This would be so much simpler if he was a girl," Malcolm grumbled. "Jewelry store- one stop- easy."

"If he was a girl, you two wouldn't nearly get along as well," Annabeth said. "Feed his hobbies. He's outdoorsy, isn't he?"

"The problem with that logic is that Mitchell already has all the crap he needs for those things," he said. "He's a child of Aphrodite. They get stuff, one way or another."

"And leave nothing for their boyfriends to get?"

Malcolm grumbled as he leaned over his desk and smashed his head into some homework papers.

There had to be _something. _

* * *

"Cologne," Annabeth reasoned. "That's bound to be appreciated."

Malcolm wasn't sure. Plus his head was getting kind of off thanks to all the fumes from this section of the department store.

"He changes colognes all the time," Malcolm said. "I don't keep track of the brands."

"For the love of the gods, Malcolm…"

"What?" Malcolm said defensively.

"You throw ideas out constantly," she said. "So why is it that every time we walk through a mall or down a street we stop at least three hundred times?"

"Mitchell got me a membership to the Natural History Museum for my birthday three years ago, and he made some kind of deal so that it _still _hasn't expired," Malcolm sighed. "He always _rocks _at getting gifts. I'm a son of Athena. I _have _to be able to figure this one out."

He turned red before he even opened his mouth, but now that he'd blushed Annabeth would make him say what was on his mind. He went out and said it willingly.

"Besides. Mitchell is the best thing that ever happened to me. I know that materialism is a bad principle, but still…"

Annabeth shrugged. "I understand."

"I know you do, you always spend hours trying to figure out what to get Percy and it makes you annoying as hell."

Annabeth smacked him.

"Nobody's paying me to be here, you know."

* * *

Malcolm had roamed the jackets section but aborted the mission after being told by a store attendant that the top he was looking at was discounted for a reason. He'd cowered from a display of engraved belts. Scarves had been too daunting for him to even approach. He'd shied away from shoes after an initial interaction- Mitchell was the king of shoes, and you didn't go playing music for Apollo now did you?

Bottom line of this particular little shopping trip?

Clothes were a no.

* * *

"Annabeth, enlighten me."

"Yes?"

"Does it matter what kind of metal earrings are made out of?" Malcolm asked shifting a pair in his hands. They definitely screamed out 'Mitchell', tiny little loops with a single engraved bead.

"Not to me, personally. But he _is _a child of Aphrodite so there's no way to be..."

Malcolm put the earrings back. Better safe than sorry.

* * *

"Booze," Malcolm said. "Mitchell _loves booze. _He always says that he's too poor to buy the good vodka, and that's his favourite! I can just totally get him some booze…"

"Great," Annabeth said. "Goodnight Malcolm, I'll talk to you when it's not two in the morning."

It never occurred to him that maybe Annabeth's negativity came from the fact that it was 2:04 AM, and so the idea never took off after that.

* * *

"Why are you reading the labels?" Annabeth asked as they wandered through the bulk candy store.

"He's allergic to soy," Malcolm mumbled. "Well, not allergic, but last time he ate it when he was seventeen he had these huge stomach cramps and he had to stop drinking soy milk, like, three days after. I don't want to make him sick."

"None of the candies here have full ingredient lists," Annabeth said. "Percy can't pick stuff up for his students because of it."

"Well screw this idea, then," Malcolm said putting down the plastic bag you were meant to put candy in.

* * *

He swore softly. He'd been camping in front of the laptop for hours, hoping to score a pair of season tickets for this year's NHL season. He'd come short- a bunch of probably buffer die-hards had called all the tickets.

He felt someone kiss his head and never had Malcolm jammed on the Escape Key faster or harder in his life.

"I'm going out to Starbucks. You've been camped at the laptop so long- anything I can get you?"

"No thanks," Malcolm said leaning back and kissing Mitchell's chin. He could see his boyfriend's frown in the laptop's reflection.

"Careful with the laptop, by the way. I ain't dealing with no hydras today, Mal."

"I know, I know."

"Ooh, something important?" Mitchell said. "Did they announce who the 16th Doctor is yet?"

"Nope," Malcolm said. He had checked.

Mitchell kissed his forehead. "I'm going to have to write a letter to the BBC. _Give the good nerds of the world an official release date for these guys' names or else my boyfriend is going to go nuts and start eating cardboard."_

_"_I wouldn't do that," Malcolm said. "I'd like to think that I would go for the fridge first."

"We all like to think that when envisioning our moment of greatest weakness," Mitchell said. "I'll grab you something to help you cope. Is chaii-y something or other okay?"

"Chaii-y?"

"That's what you're getting. Ciao sweetheart."

"Ciao means hello not goodbye!" Malcolm called out. Mitchell waved off a raised hand as he left the apartment.

* * *

"Has he seen _Rubix Cube?" _Annabeth asked holding up a DVD. "You know? The one with Glen Kayes in it?"

"Yeah," Malcolm asked. "Twice. Hated it even more the second time."

"Finding something to give a professional movie reviewer in a movie store is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, Malcolm."

"I remember most of what he's seen. I read his reviews, I'm the first one that he rants to, and he's got DVD piles _everywhere _at home…"

"But combing through a place this big?" Annabeth asked.

"Fair point," Malcolm said.

* * *

Malcolm looked at the watches in the display carefully. He'd located and targeted a specific black, grey and turquoise fly watch. He thought that it was nice, and Mitchell loved turquoise- they'd had long discussions about the downsides of painting the entire apartment turquoise. Malcolm had slept on the couch for an undisclosed time period for pointing out that there were _no _benefits to monochromatic walls.

But Mitchell wore his Dad's watch all the time... that was the problem. His Dad had died when Mitchell was eight, and part of him had never forgiven the world for that.

It wasn't as if he'd take it off for a watch that Malcolm picked up… not at all.

* * *

Malcolm was running to catch the subway that would take him home after work… then he froze.

A snowflake landed on his nose. More of them peppered his shoulder and sandy hair and the ground around him.

Snowflakes meant winter.

Winter meant that December was approaching.

December 16th at 3:14 AM was their anniversary.

_No, _he thought. _Screw it. I'm out, and it's not my night to cook supper. I am legally allowed to vote- I can and will shop on my own and goddamnit I can and will make it worthwhile. _

And so he proceeded to get lost trying to find the nearest mall.

* * *

"Malcolm," someone whispered in his ear. "Malcolm."

_Go away. _For some reason Malcolm's body rather half-sleep and half-think instead of making a good effort and speaking those words before returning to Morpheus' arms soundly.

"Malcolm. Malcolm. Attack Formation 13."

"That doesn't work to startle me awake anymore," Malcolm groaned. Apparently annoyance was enough to wake him from the dead. "What's going on, Mitchell?"

"It's 3:00 AM," Mitchell said softly.

"Glad to know our clock's working."

"No, I mean… shouldn't we get up?"

Malcolm's eyes shot open. Tradition. The one that he hated and loved, depending on what time of the year it was and ergo how far it was from the last time he'd been woken up.

He slipped out of bed and tried to pull a shirt on, but Mitchell dragged him out of the room saying that they were probably already late because of his stupid, regular sleep pattern.

Mitchell had water boiling while Malcolm blinked the spots out of his eyes. The apartment was dark except for the light above the stove.

They curled up on the couch with cups of tea and a blanket made by one of their grandmothers thrown across their shoulders. The peculiar thing was that instead of looking at the TV, they were looking at the PVR above it- at the clock.

3:10.

3:11.

3:12.

3:13.

3:14.

Mitchell kissed Malcolm on the cheek.

"Happy three year anniversary," he said. "Wahoo, we haven't murdered each other yet."

"We've managed to only love each other more."

"Imagine that."

Malcolm kissed him on the lips. He tasted like Earl Grey- like boring, old person tea.

"I got you something," Malcolm said reaching into the crack between the couch's pillow and its arm.

"I hid my present in here too," Mitchell said excitedly. "Wow. Great minds think alike."

Malcolm shot him a look.

"Okay, I saw you put your thing there and thought that it was a good idea."

Malcolm smiled and handed him the little cardboard box. As per usual, Mitchell rattled the present at his ear and made several far-fetched guesses before opening the box (Malcolm didn't believe in wrapping paper which was why Mitchell wrapped his presents in several layers, all with different paper, and used more ribbon for a single package than the quantity exported to Canada yearly).

"Ooh la, la," Mitchell said pulling the box' lid off.

_ Score. _

He'd pulled over someone in the store and asked for their opinions to make sure that he'd picked the right one out of everything else in the display case. According to the look on Mitchell's face, he had.

The leather cuff was embossed. Tiny bumps all over it drew a pattern of lozenges and arrows combining, and there was a compass in the center.

"Look inside," Malcolm said. He was proud of the inside; he'd carved it out himself with a switch blade.

_I'd be lost without you. –Mal. _

"Well that's freaking sweet," Mitchell said looking up with that puppy dog look on his face, the one he got from watching Nicholas Sparks adaptations.

"No problem," Malcolm said as Mitchell gave him a peck and a hug. "It's true."

"I got you something _legitimately _sweet," Mitchell said reaching into his side of the couch.

It took about fifteen minutes to unwrap the present, and when he did Malcolm was honestly confused.

"MnM's?" He asked.

"Yeah," his boyfriend answered eagerly. He opened the bag and took two little candies out. "M and M. Mitchell and Malcolm. See? It's us in candy form!"

Malcolm's face must have been pretty good, because Mitchell burst out laughing.

"I just thought of this at, like, 1:00 AM at some point and knew that I wanted to see the look on your face when I told you so- I got you something else, look in the bag."

Malcolm rolled his eyes and fluffed Mitchell's hair before taking out what appeared to be a VIP pass to next year's SciCon. There was a little note.

_I will always take you places, even though you're going there yourself. XOXO You Know Who_

"Don't panic because there's only one," Mitchell said. "Percy and I are tag teaming on this and Annabeth's getting the other pass next August- just don't tell her or he kills us both and regifts the passes."

Malcolm smiled. "Thanks, Mitchell."

Contrary to Anniversary tradition, they munched on MnM's for a while instead of going back to bed and even popped a movie in.

Sleeping on the couch worked too.


End file.
